The adjourning phase of group or team work is when everyone leaves
to move on to other projects. I have had
a few groups that I was sad to leave but there have been others that I was more
than happy to put an end to. I think
that high functioning groups are definitely more difficult to leave than ones where
there is turmoil and conflict.
This past school year I was part of an excellent team
comprised of three Kindergarten teachers (one from each Elementary school in
the district) and one building principal.
The goal of this group was to change the way that our schools place children
into Kindergarten. When teachers place children
in all other grades a lot of thought is put into the decision. In Kindergarten, however, we were just
getting the luck of the draw. One class
may be riddled with behavior problems while another had extremely high
achievers. We set out to balance classes
through a screening day, but our mission was to make it as welcoming and
inviting as possible. We did not want parents to see it as a test or
something their child would pass or fail.
Instead, we wanted to welcome families in, spend time with children, and
thoughtfully place them into classrooms based on their disposition, skills,
needs, and previous schooling.
One thing that I loved about working on this group was their
passion for the work we were doing. Each
member was strongly committed to doing what was best for children and families. I also loved that our group was comprised of
only 4 members as it was easier to make group decisions with a smaller number
of participants. When we got ready to
leave the group I was quite sad to see that our time had come to an end. I was proud of the work we had accomplished, though. To end our sessions together we kicked off
the screening that we had designed. It was
impactful to see all of our hard work in action! We also decided to meet a few times each
school year to tweak the program we created as well as to add components to
make it even better.
In other groups the adjourning phase ended with a
celebration of sorts. Usually this was
dinner out or a get together with the other group members. During these events, group members always shared
stories about our group work and looked back at where we started. This was always powerful because sometimes in
the midst of the work you lose track of just how much you did or changed.
When I think of adjourning from the group of colleagues I’ve
worked with during my Master’s program it does sadden me a bit. While I will be thrilled to no longer think
of due dates for discussions, blog posts, and applications, I will miss the
fellowship. There have been many
instances where I have heard a new idea from an assignment and directly applied
it to an activity in my classroom. Other
times I have been challenged in my thinking by the assignments and the comments
from classmates.
Adjourning is important because it allows the group to find some
closure. You get to look back at where
you started and re-live the journey. It
allows the group a chance to celebrate successes and thank the other members
for the parts they have played.
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